Mitali Palnitkar
Published On: December 31, 2021 at 09:10 IST
Today the 46th meeting of GST Council will be held in New Delhi which will be chaired by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
The meeting will be attended by Union Minister of State in Ministry of Finance, Pankaj Chaudhary and Dr Bhagwat Kishanrao Karad. The Finance Ministers of States and UTs, and Senior Officers from Union Government and States will also be present at the meeting.
The meeting is important as it is held before the Union Budget which is presented on February 1 by the Finance Minister.
On December 30, 2021; State governments of Delhi, Chhattisgarh, Kerala and West Bengal emphasized to continue the GST compensation for the next 5 years due to the financial stress caused by the pandemic. Several States also made a demand to raise the share of Union Government in the Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS). Presently, the ratio is 60:40 in a few States and 75:25 in the remaining.
It is to be noted that the GST compensation that is given to States for revenue shortfall which results when VAT, GST get subsumed; will end in June 2022.
In the Pre-budget consultation, which was chaired by Nirmala Sitharaman, many State Finance Ministers demanded for the extension of GST Cess Regime. This meeting was attended by Union Ministers of State for Finance, Chief Ministers, Deputy Chief Ministers, State Finance Ministers, Ministers and Senior Officers from States, UTs and Union Government.
In the meeting, the participants thanked the Finance Minister for supporting the States financially during the pandemic. They also gave suggestions that could be included in the Budget speech. The Finance Minister thanked the participants for their suggestions and promised to examine all the proposals.
The Union Budget 2022-23 will be the fourth Budget of Narendra Modi- led government in its second tenure. The Union Budget will be held on February 1, 2022 in New Delhi.